2013 Winter Meetings Day One Open Thread

It’s hard to believe that after everything that happened last week, today is the first day of the Winter Meetings in Orlando. These next three days — the fourth day of the Winter Meetings is always slow because teams head home around noon-ish — might be a little slower than usual only because some of the very top free agents are always off the board. I still expect this week to be pretty busy, with lots of rumors and trades and signings with whatnot.

Brian Cashman is not expected to arrive in Orlando until this afternoon according to Andy McCullough, but that’s pretty typical. A few clubs and executives are already there but most trickle in throughout Monday. We’re going to keep track of any Yankees-related news right here throughout the day, so make sure you check back often. All of the timestamps are ET.

10:58pm: The Yankees have not changed their stance on Gardner. They will listen to offers but aren’t overly motivated to trade him. [Jack Curry]

7:47pm: The asking price for Gardner is “through (the) roof” and the Giants don’t have much interest in Ichiro Suzuki. Not surprised on either count. [John Shea]

6:58pm: The Giants are intrigued by Gardner. One person involved in talks called a trade “not likely, but not impossible.” [Sherman]

6:38pm: The most likely return for Gardner would be a number four starter, according to rival executives. A number three would be a strong return. Just keep him in that case. [McCullough]

5:05pm: The Yankees are looking for relievers and they have stayed in contact with Boone Logan. He had a bone spur removed from his elbow after the season and is expected to start throwing this month. [McCullough]

5:01pm: Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz will be eligible to sign on February 19th after being suspended for falsifying his age. The Yankees had a “large presence” at the 23-year-old’s recent showcase events in Mexico. Some teams like him more as a second baseman. [JeffPassan]

11:10am: The Yankees have not expressed interest in Johan Santana. He’s coming off his second torn shoulder capsule and the first is usually the kiss of death. [McCullough]

11:03am: Thinking about Roy Halladay? Forget it. He’s retiring. Halladay will sign a one-day contract with the Blue Jays and make the official announcement later today. [JonHeyman]

The Yankees are one of the teams with interest in trading for Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija. I wrote about him around the trade deadline. [Bruce Levine]

9:00am: “That’s the last thing I’m worried about,” said Cashman when asked about acquiring a closer. He acknowledged they’re seeking another starter and bullpen help in general. “Listen, we have enough voids that you don’t have to prioritize any of it. You hope to run into something sooner than later that makes you better.” [Dan Martin]

The Yankees did look into a reunion with Raul Ibanez but he isn’t much of a fit now. The outfield is crowded and there’s no room for another DH-type. Ibanez is expected to sign this week. [Joel Sherman]

The Yankees still have interest in Omar Infante as a Cano replacement. They are not talking to Mark Ellis, however. [Ken Rosenthal]

On a semi non Yankees but Winter Meetings related note, any guesses on where Choo lands?

Bavarian Yankee

I guess Rangers or Mariners.

http://twitter.com/#!/Clay_Bellinger Clay Bellinger

Hopefully Mariners. Keep em away from a contender.

Farewell Mo

I hope the mariners suck and Cano never sniffs the playoffs again so he can be added to the list of players who ultimately regretted going for the biggest money grab.

MannyGeee

seems drastic

CashmanNinja

Uh, almost every single player goes for the most money. A-Rod did. And who knows what could have happened if another team had offered Jeter a much more lucrative deal than that first huge deal he got. Hell, you do realize Bernie Williams nearly became part of the Red Sox, right? And Johnny Damon came from the Red Sox and was a pretty big reason for us winning a championship. So you can’t fault him for wanting to be paid. The things you can fault him for are that he just seems a bit smug now because he got his money. All of the little side stories coming out about his dad not liking the Yankees or Cano not liking Girardi. It’s petty. He was offered a lot of money by a team and took it. Wouldn’t you take a new job if you got an insane amount of money more than what the company you’ve been with for years was willing to pay you??

Greg H

I don’t fault Cano for taking the money, just maintain some class. As much as I’d have liked him to stay, I am grateful that the Yanks showed the restraint and did not match the Mariners offer. They will be better served in the long run not getting involved in a ten year contract with a thirty plus year old player. Good luck Robbie…I wish you luck, except when you play the Yankees! Go Yanks!

qwerty

That’s kind of petty don’t you think?

Steve

Whoever gets Romine in a Trade will win. He hit .345 after the All-Star break and is young.

MannyGeee

See, I’ve been feeling like the Red Sox wont be able to help themselves from jumping on on the overpaying spree.

Havok9120

I’d be surprised if they break through the luxury tax.

Jorge Steinbrenner (the rarely spoken-of sibling)

I say Texas. I’d love to see Seattle strike out everywhere else other than Robbie.

BamBamMusings

The Yanks!

After we ship Gardy and Ichiro + DFA Wells.

blee

is there any buzz about Daniel Murphy of the Mets? Mets seem to want to deal him.. and we could use a 2B like him as a stopgap.. they also need a leadoff batter… like a gardy.

http://twitter.com/#!/Clay_Bellinger Clay Bellinger

He’s a nice hitter, but not very good defensively. I wouldn’t part ways with Gardner for him.

gbyanks

I agree i only really like one trade scenario for garnder and thats a 3 way deal with the angels where we get kendrick and they get a starter third team gets gardner. although if tanaka really isnt coming to the states we might as well keep the starter.

If we could get a starter for Gardner why not just get one? OR are you assuming other parts get thrown in?

Chris H

Why would the Mets want Gardner when they already have Lagares in CF, Granderson in LF, and Chris Young in RF, with Duda and Eric Young capable of holding down corner (or CF in Young’s case) spots? I wouldn’t trade Gardner for Murphy anyway but I don’t see any incentive for the Mets to do it either.

Get Phelps Up (looking for a new name)

The Yankees have a Daniel Murphy with Kelly Johnson.

Kosmo

another sucky trade proposal:

Gardner and Nunez to Seattle for Ackley, Franklin and Ramirez. Seattle would get a 4WAR established CF and a UI. Yanks receive the underachieving Ackley , Franklin who can play SS and 2B and platoon with Johnson at 3B and Ramirez a #5 SP.

Bavarian Yankee

meh. First of all I don’t think they’d trade Ackley AND Franklin, they’ll keep at least one. Then both of them are overrated imo, you can get somebody like Mark Ellis for $ only and he’s probably better than both. Ackley has been an awful hitter for 2 years now and Franklin strikes out a ton, didn’t have good numbers in the majors either and is a well below average defender. tbh I’m not sure if Ackley or Franklin would be much if any better than Kelly Johnson or Ed Nunez. No way I trade somebody like Gardner for one of those two.

Also, the Yanks don’t need another #5 starter, they already have like 5 of those.

Kosmo

Ackley hit .304 the last half of 2013. He plays a solid D 2B. Franklin has far more upside than Nunez. Both Ackley and Franklin are still young and under team control. If you can get your hands on yet another #5 SP it allows for trades to occur. I´m not sold on Phelps,Warren,Pineda or Nuno. All 4 have a lot to prove and I doubt all 4 can stay healthy. You can´t have enough SP.

Bavarian Yankee

jup, he hit .304 in the second half. That was his first good hitting half since the 1st half of 2011. What the outlier then? 2nd half of 2013 or the 2 years that happened before? I’m not going to gamble there and trade an annual 3+ WAR player like Gardner for somebody like Ackley and I hope the Yanks won’t either.

Kosmo

it can be seen as a gamble for Seattle too. 1 year of Gardner and he can walk. Ackley and Franklin are still very young and still can have productive futures. Why write them off?

Jorge Steinbrenner (the rarely spoken-of sibling)

You know the answer to that: Because it’s Seattle.

Bavarian Yankee

“Ackley and Franklin are still very young and still can have productive futures. Why write them off?”

you can say that about any young player. Ackley has a career .669 OPS, Franklin .686, struck out in almost 1/3 of his ABs and he sucks on defense. Why on earth do you want to trade for those players? Just keep Nunez and don’t write him off, he’s still young and can have a productive future ;)

Jorge Steinbrenner (the rarely spoken-of sibling)

…just not in baseball.

Vincent Vega

That’s not a gamble

B-Rando

I don’t have a strong opinion either way, but that ‘outlier’ theory doesnt necessarily apply to developmental progress. Maybe he has finally started to figure out ML pitching? Maybe he’s physically reached his prime? I dont think you can dismiss his 2nd half this year as an outlier when he’s still very young and developing as a player.

Chris H

So do you dismiss his first half then? Because in his first 200 ABs of the season he “hit” .205/.267/.255, then he turned it on in the last 184 ABs .304/.374/.435 but all it did was raise his overall numbers on the season .253/.319/.341 right in line with his career slash line .245/.315/.354. You’re cherry picking 184 random ABs to say he’s finally turned a corner last season in my opinion. Sure he could’ve figured it all out but it’s at least as likely he just had his numbers level out to where they have been his in his career.

RetroRob

I agree, although many Yankee fans want to do just that with Kuroda, believing the last six weeks is more important than his overall season.

Chris H

Honestly Kuroda wasn’t bad in the second half according to the numbers. In the first half Kuroda posted a 6.37 K/9, 1.82 BB/9, 3.50 K/BB, 0.91 HR/9, 3.60 FIP, 3.69 xFIP. In the second half his numbers mirror these almost exactly 7.19 K/9, 2.07 BB/9, 3.47 K/BB, 0.87 HR/9, 3.51 FIP, 3.46 xFIP. The only real difference in the first and second half for Hiroki was his LOB% and his BABIP in the first half he got lucky with a .252 BABIP and a LOB% right in line with his career numbers 82.6%. In the second half however he had a much higher than career average .324 BABIP and a well below league average LOB% of 68.5%. Overall he pitched the same in the first and second half, his luck simply reversed.

RetroRob

I agree. You don’t have to sell me. His velocity was fine late in the year. He’s a command and control pitcher and he was just off. Yes, it probably was fatigue related, or maybe just an expected regression since he was on fire before the regression.

My only worry about him is he’s another year older, but I am not really concerned that he suddenly grew old the last few weeks of the season.

Jorge Steinbrenner (the rarely spoken-of sibling)

C’mon, Jack Z. Ichiro for Ackley. You know you want to sell those retirement tour tickets and t-shirts.

MannyGeee

Could you imagine… Holy Jesus.

Jorge Steinbrenner (the rarely spoken-of sibling)

Hey, it’s Jack Z, he wants to stir things up, and he’s got another second baseman. Stranger things have happened.

MannyGeee

Truth. At least you know what Ichiro is. Ackley is an enigma.

And it is completely possible that Ichiro could say all he’s ever wanted in his MLB career is to play alongside Robbie Cano and now he has the chance to do that TWICE!

I agree, make it happen Jack Z.

Jorge Steinbrenner (the rarely spoken-of sibling)

Where is a proper retirement tour opportunity for Ichiro going to happen? NYC? Nope. San Francisco? Nope.

The perfect ending for him would be in Seattle. He’ll be wearing their cap when he enters the HOF.

He may not have a lick of value, but I believe he’s got a couple of licks of value if it’s Seattle and they’re really looking to renew interest.

I honestly don’t think we’re getting Ackley for him unless DUMBASS (which Jack Z is), but I stand by the principle here.

Hmmmm

How do you think is be biggest name moved at the Winter Meetings?

gbyanks

David price for a young cost controlled position player and a top starter prospect that the rays will turn into an ace….and then trade for a top cost controlled position player

Farewell Mo

Price to Texas or Seattle.

gbyanks

idk if texas has the pieces anymore you had to figure that profar was gonna be in the deal and now they need him to play second base. unless they sign infante and profar become available again

MannyGeee

Dark Horse… CarGo. BOOM

Bavarian Yankee

I also think it’ll be a player that hasn’t been mentioned at all yet: Cespedes to Arizona! Chance this will happen: 0,000000001% :D

BamBamMusings

Aron Hill to the Yanks for Vidal Nuno, J.R Murphy + Melky Mesa.

Kosmo

I´d be down with Aaron Hill for Nuno, Murphy but it doesn´t seem like a match for Arizona. I believe Mesa is no longer with NY.

Jorge Steinbrenner (the rarely spoken-of sibling)

You’d have to re-sign Melky Mesa for that to happen.

MannyGeee

Melky + IPK for Arron Hillz!

gbyanks

lol

Chris H

Why do people think Vidal Nuno has real trade value? He had 20 decent but overrated innings last year, he isn’t suddenly more major league viable as a starter than he ever was.

“So in the end, while the Eagles are obviously upset that they won’t be making as much money off Tanaka as they were anticipating, if Tanaka wants to make the jump to MLB this season, it’s expected that they will let him go.

A $20 million posting fee is still a substantial amount of money for the Eagles, who control Tanaka’s rights for two more seasons. If they choose not to post him this winter, Tanaka would be only one year away from true free agency, at which point Tanaka might prefer to not be posted and wait another year to sign without any restrictions, leaving the Eagles without any compensation. As one MLB team official put it, whether the Eagles were counting on $60 million or $20 million for Tanaka, in the end, it’s likely $20 million or nothing.”

RetroRob

Another scenario: The Eagles really should keep Tanaka for another season and then post him. Tanaka is a pitcher and always has to have an arm injury to consider, so he will not want to pitch another year in Japan once he is set free, either right now, or next year.

Second, every team will submit a $20M posting fee. There is nothing to lose for teams, and potentially something to be gained, even if it’s a message to each teams’ fans that “we’re trying.” The only team that pays is the one who signs Tanaka. What that means is Tanaka after 2014 will be the equivalent of an unrestricted free agent (the same if he is posted this year), able to negotiate with all teams. No need to wait another year if you’re Tanaka to be a true unrestricted fee agent when he will in essence be just that thanks to the new posting system.

This way the owner of the Eagles can get one more year out of Tanaka, still get his $20M, and can kind say “screw you” to MLB, especially since he doesn’t have to tell anyone what his real plans are next year regarding Tanaka.

Do I think this will happen? No, probably not, but it’s a scenario that should be considered, and it’s one I might personally follow if I thought I just lost $50M or so dollars.

Mscott

Infante, Mark Reynolds, Masahiro Tanaka, Jesse Crain and go home.

I’m One

I’d accept that. I’d also be willing to substitute Veras for Crain.

MannyGeee

I don’t love the idea of Crain OR Veras, if I’m honest. Give me a starter or 2 and make Phelps/Nuno/Warren work out of the bullpen. MUCH better track record there for the Yankees.

gbyanks

Im not sure we still need reyonlds I get that johnson is a lefty but he seems to not be a true platoon player. johnson even hit 291 vs lefties in 2013. I figure hes gonna hit 230/300 25 hrs no matter the pitcher

238/359/475 Reyonlds career vs LHP

276/336/434 Johnson career vs LHP

Kosmo

I noticed that too. johnson has reverse splits vs LHP.

Chris H

Please can we stop with the idea that Mark Reynolds has a place on this team? Reynolds hit .225/.319/.406 with a .181 ISO power vs LHP this year and .227/.352/.370 with a .143 ISO against LHP in 2012. He isn’t a “lefty masher” anymore and he can’t handle right handed pitching at all, let him go rot on someone else’s bench.

I’m also glad he has the guts to not try and make another run just for money.

Lukaszek

Very sad. He spent his entire career pitching in very small ballparks, otherwise I think his ERA would be below 3

Pat D

Definitely unfortunate on Halladay. Two years ago it seemed like he was definitely on a HOF course. Now I think he will fall short since he only won 203 games, even with the 2 Cy Youngs.

RetroRob

I think he makes it.

Great players — hitters or pitchers — usually stick around long enough to have nice counting stats, yet many are elected not on the counting stats but their peak. Mantle could have retired in the early 60s with 350+ HRs but he would have made the HOF. Probably not the best example to give, but I prefer a HOF with peak, those who are points were considered the best, more than I do players who accumulate nice counting stats, but never were great.

I could be wrong, but I think he makes it.

MannyGeee

I am changing my earlier vote. I say Chris Sale is the biggest name to be moved this week.

Lukaszek

No way man. He’s mad young, 24 years old, so I doubt that White Sox would want to trade him, especially when they have the ability to become contenders right when Chris Sale hits his prime

mt

MLBTR reports Braves and Yankees as new teams interested in trading for Jeff Samardzija – what possible package could we put together that would be compelling to Cubs, especially when teams like Diamondbacks seemingly have more ML ready prospects to give up?

TCMiller30

I have no idea what the package would be. But I would love to see that happen. I’m guessing pretty much any deal with the yanks for an established big leaguer would include Gardner and a good mix of Sanchez, Murphy, Williams, Slade and/or Austin.

We should just back-up the prospect truck for Chris Sale. I can’t believe the ChiSox are really interested in moving him.

RetroRob

I don’t believe the White Sox are interested in moving him, but I’m sure they’ll listen to offers. The Yankees don’t have enough to get him.

hey now

How about, “We’ll give you the entire Trenton Thunder roster for Chris Sale”?

RetroRob

They would say no. : -)

Sanchez would be a nice pick up, but Austin, Heathcott?? They need more sure-thing prospects. The Yankees just don’t have that right now.

MannyGeee

While the price for Sale and Quintana is SOOOOOOPER expensive, Danks could be had for literally just money. They just want out of that contract.

3 years too late (The Story of the 2014 New York Yankees, AmiRite?), but #400Innings…. Jus sayin

DR

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but the Ichiro comments above had me thinking. I wonder if the Yankees will hold on to Ichiro once they know Tanaka will be posted. Having Ichiro on the team could be a big advantage when trying to persuade Tanaka to sign. Ichiro and Kuroda could actively sell him on the idea of coming to New York. Perhaps an oversimplification, but it is a tool that no other team has.

Chris H

Really? No other team has a Japanese player on it he’s likely never met? I can name 4 or 5 teams off the top of my head with Japanese players on them, I’m sure plenty more do as well. The whole he’s Japanese so he’ll want to play with our Japanese player is the funniest, vaguely racist, meme in baseball fan circles. I get wanting to play with a friend like what the Sox tried to do with Dice-K but Kuroda and Ichiro haven’t played in Japan in many years.

Mykey

Silly yes. But there is nothing racist about it. Just poorly thought out.

Chris H

I don’t think it’s maliciously racist but saying certain people will get along or want to play together based on the color of their skin or nationality is racist.

Nope

Wholeheartedly disagree. Immigrants to any country frequently gravitate to others of the same background, for language, cultural and other reasons. Nothing racist about it, just reality.

DR

It actually had more to do with playing with Ichiro, who is a national icon, is an experience that the other 29 teams cannot offer. That was my point, but I understand where you’re coming from.

RetroRob

Aledmyes Diaz? I wonder if he is ready to play in the Major today and could be an immediate 2B option.

Need Pitching & Hitting

fwiw

Diaz will likely require at least a half-season, possibly even more, at Triple-A before debuting in the major leagues.

Seems likely since he hasn’t played in a year. Yet I can’t click on that link since I see it’s from the Bleacher Report. : -)

Josh S.

Any chance that Brian Cashman gets Jack Z. really drunk tonight and convinces him to trade King Felix to the Yankees for Ichiro? He could throw in Robinson Cano too, as long as Seattle is willing to pay $65 million.

Tom

Diaz has 3 years of experience in Cuba and is exempt from the IFA budget rules correct?

If so, probably worth taking a run at him even if he winds up at 2nd

TWTR

Andrew Marchand making sense on Gary Sanchez, with Kay being his usually stupid self.

Manny

Haven’t posted on here in about a year, but i thought this was important:
Get Diaz

Straight to the big show too, let’s not make the same mistake we made with Cespedes and Puig.

The Tenth Inning Stretch

Nats are allegedly shopping Espinosa and Storen. I wouldn’t mind trading for either/both of those guys at the right price.

CashmanNinja

No no no no no on Espinosa. He always seems to have a nagging injury and the dude flat out has awful plate patience. He will wing at balls down and away in the dirt and makes it easy for pitchers. He’s the kind of player who puts everything into a swing and wants to hit the cover off the ball with each swing…but winds up making himself look foolish in return. Absolutely no on Espinosa.

https://twitter.com/philgalletto theyankeewarrior

Chances Cano deal falls through before pen goes to paper….

I’ll put it at 2%

Dars

Signing Ellsbury, McAnn and Beltran and not filling the holes is like buying a Porsche and placing used tires on it.
Did the Yankees spend on some players to give the impression that they want a winning team but always knowing they would stop before 189M or did they really want to build a winner?

They need to badly upgrade the bullpen and sign Mark Reynolds and Omar Infante.
I would bring Logan back and add one of Balfour/Benoit.
Even if we get Tanaka, there will be lots of questions in the rotation, therefore you need a strong bullpen.
Sabathia, Nova and Kuroda all come with question marks, Tanaka is unproven and Pineda and Phelps are unknown quantity. Yankees do not upgrade pitching, they could be in same hole as 2013.

TCMiller30

“Pineda and Phelps are unknown quantity”

Pineda and Phelps are a very known quantity. They are each one.. Two if you combine them.

OldYanksFan

No Mystique and Aura, eh?

As reported yesterday in the New York Times, the Yankees today officially announced details of their plans to honor Nelson Mandela with a plaque in Monument Park. The plaque will be unveiled as part of Jackie Robinson Day in April.

“Nelson Mandela’s visit was a transcendent moment in the history of the original Yankee Stadium,” Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner said. “We want this plaque to be an everlasting tribute to his indomitable spirit and unfailing dignity.”

From Lohud.

JeffG

I love the idea of having a tribute to him in the stadium. That said, I think momument park should be reserved for baseball persons. Disagree?

qwerty

Give him a number then.

Nope

Doesn’t the Pope already have a plaque there?

Chris H

The latest update on Gardner jives with what I’ve long believed, Gardner is simply more valuabke to us as a player than he would be to another team via trade. Just lead him off ahead of Ellsbury and let him play elite LF defense and sign Infante, best overall value move for the organization.

Mr. Roth

Unless someone is willing to trade us a #2 or #3 starter for Gardner, I really think we’re just better off holding on to him as outfield depth. Our outfielders aren’t exactly shining examples of durability.

qwerty

Cashman isn’t giving up Gardner unless he’s getting back either Trout, Harper, and maybe Stanton, anything else and it will get a flat out refusal. He’s held firm with Hughes and Joba and he’ll do with Brett.